River's Flood
by IWantColoredRain
Summary: Rose Noble has been married to her second husband for nearly three years now and she loves him, their children and their life more than anything, but when James' past turns up she wonders, is staying the right thing to do? Or should she leave before her heart is broken all over again? Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer, Doctor Who does not belong to me, I own nothing but the plot.**

 **Prologue,**

 **A Happy Life**

Rose Noble-Foreman née Tyler smiled happily as she looked around at her family. It was December 28th and the children still hadn't fully lost the Christmas spirit. Eight-year-old Susan was playing with her Chemistry set, despite being a disaster at history the young girl was a prodigy when it came to science, she'd inherited her talent from her father, Jon, Rose's first husband had been a scientist for UNIT both before and after his tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Six (and three quarters) year-old Alex and six-year-old Jenny Rose's stepdaughter were playing with Alex's new G.I. Joe's (Jenny was definitely a tomboy), Alice, Rose's two-year-old niece was playing in the playpen with Miranda her two-year-old adopted daughter from America, and Donna her sister-in-law was nursing one-month-old Steven her nephew. Jack her best friend since childhood when they'd met in foster care was speaking to James, Donna's brother and Rose's new husband about Torchwood a subsection of James' family company that Jack was head of.

"Mama," Susan called, "when are we going to see Grampa Al and Gramy Doris?" Alistair and Doris Lethbridge-Stewart were Rose's deceased husband Jonathan Foreman's aunt and uncle, after Jon's parents had died when he was twelve they'd raised him alongside their daughter Kate, despite Jon's death and Rose's remarriage they'd remained close to the family and Rose considered them parents. "Well," Rose began, "they're spending the rest of the week with Aunt Kate and Gordy and then they're coming to stay with us for a fornight after New Years'." Susan frowned slightly but nodded in reply and not for the first time Rose thanked God forgiving her such wonderful children, biological or not, Jenny and Miranda were as much her children as Susan and Alex were.

Jenny was James' daughter with his ex-wife River Song, they'd married because of River's pregnancy and divorced when Jenny was two, Miranda meanwhile was found abandoned in San Francisco as an infant and when James and Rose had married they'd decided to adopt a child instead of trying to conceive to complete their family, after a long eleven months they'd brought home Miranda. That was seven months ago and Rose now felt that nothing could decrease her happiness, her family finally felt complete, even though she still missed Jon like a limb and still wished the fire had never happened and Susan and Alex could know their father through more than stories told by Rose, Jack and the Lethbridge-Stewarts, she was healing and wouldn't give her life now up for anything.

Little did Rose know, that in just two short months reality would burst the bubble of perfection she was living in when one Professor River Song came waltzing in with a saucy smile and a greeting of "hello sweetie," to Rose's husband.


	2. When Reality Comes Falling Down

**AN: I noticed some mistakes in Chapter 1 which I have now fixed, and I would like to thank everyone who reviewed/followed my story for your support and ask you to check out my other story Gallifrey College. And now, without further ado I present the second chapter of River's Flood.**

 **Chapter Two**

 **When Reality Comes Falling Down**

James Noble held the icepack his sister had handed to him to his jaw carefully, ignoring Donna sitting quietly beside him. Although Donna could be brash and loud, she had a softer side as well and he was relieved that she wasn't trying to push him into talking about what happened with Rose and River. He couldn't really believe that it had actully happened, he hadn't seen River since the divorce was finalized nearly five years ago and yet here she was back and screwing things up just like always, and Rose had gone off somewhere with Jack. Jack was one of James' best friends and his brother-in-law as well, and James had no doubt that whatever he and Rose were doing was completely platonic. They were brother and sister in everything but blood after all, but James still wished that Rose hadn't left. They were married weren't they? Rose should trust him! But at the same time, James knew she had the right to be upset after the fiasco earlier, and what a fiasco it was. Rose who had suffered so much already in her life had every right to be upset.

 _Flashback_

 _The family was sitting down for a lovely dinner of Rose's spaghetti bolognaise when the doorbell rang. "Wonder who that is," James said with a frown, "we weren't expecting anyone where we love?" "No, it's probably someone selling something, I'll tell them to leave," Rose replied as she rose from where she was feeding Miranda her dinner, (or trying to feed her at any rate.) James nodded in reply turning his attention to the two six year olds who were 'swordfighting' with their forks. "Excuse me, who the_ _ **hell**_ _do you think you are?" he heard Rose demanding angrily from the hall just as a familiar figure entered the room._

 _In the almost five years since he'd last seen her River hadn't changed a bit. Her hair was still in a mane of curls around her head, she was still dressed as provocativly as ever and she still caked on her makeup. There was differences to though, subtle but still there, some more age lines on her face, her hair looked more died than he remembered it being. It was disconcerting to see his ex-wife standing in the kitchen smiling at him like nothing had changed. He had never believed he would see her again and despite his wife and children being there in the kitchen, despite everything River had done, for a moment he forgot it all, forgot her affair with his best friend, her drinking and everything else. For a moment, all of that fell away and he embraced her warmly inviting her to join their family dinner, ignoring her condescending attitude towards Rose, Susan, Alex and Miranda, her overly fawning one towards Jenny, clearly making the little girl uncomfortable and her blatant flirting with him, even flirting back. He'd sealed the deal when as she was leaving, he not only agreed to have lunch with her the next day but when he lent in to kiss her cheek, she turned her head the slightest bit so their lips touched. When sense finally returned to him, it came in the form of an angry brother-in-law, a punch to the face, and his wife and children driving off, driving away from him._

 _End Flashback_

"You're an ass, you know?" Donna snapped, slapping him as hard as she could when he finished the story. "I mean seriously! You have a wonderful wife, four amazing kids, and you may have just screwed it up completely, for what? That cheating _whore_!" She sat back down with a huff, her cheeks bright red from anger. "Do you really think I've lost them?" James croaked, dread evident on his face. She bit her lip and sighed, "I don't know," she said quietly, "but if you haven't you have a helluva lot of groveling to do to make up up for it." James buried his face in his hands, despair threatening to take over him. Donna sighed and leaned against him, wrapping an arm around his skinny shoulders and tugging him closer to lie her head on his shoulders and he wrapped his arm around her waist. They stayed in that position for a very long time, the icepack lying forgotten on the sofa.

Jack sat on the couch beside his sister in a pose that although they didn't realise it, mirrored their spouses' almost exactly. They were at Kate's house, thankfully the other woman hadn't asked questions when they'd arrived, Jack barely containing his anger, Rose holding back tears and four tired and upset children asking to spend the night. Kate had simply set the kids up in the spare bedroom and blown up the air mattress for Jack and Rose and left them be,something they would be eternally grateful for. Rose sipped the tea Jack had made and looked up at him, "what do I do Jack?" she whispered tearfully. Jack looked back at her helplessly, Rose had been the closest thing he had to a sister since they met when Jack was fourteen and Rose was ten. Rose's parents had died in a car accident when she was six months old and she'd been raised by her grandfather til his death of cancer when she was nine. Jack meanwhile had grown up in care and when he met her, he'd taken the small girl under his wing and protected her as fiercely as he could from any and all threats. But always there had been one thing he couldn't shield her from, threats from the heart.

Rose had three really serious relationships during her life, the first was with Jimmy Stone, and the less said about _that_ bastard the better. Her second had been with Jonathan and she'd been happy for several years before his death, despite Jack's initial reservations about a man in his forties dating a nineteen year old, and now he could practically see this one falling to pieces around her ears. "I don't know Rosie, I just don't know." Rose buried her head in his shoulder as she shook with sobs.


	3. The Tale of River Song

**AN: This chapter is just backround on River and the divorce and why she's decided to come back, not everything though! ;-). More action next chapter I promise!**

 _ **Chapter Two**_

 __ _ **The Tale of River Song**_

River Alexandra Song had been born on March 13 1964, to parents Sharon Rose and Michael Thomas Song. Growing up she was spoilt and doted on by her parents as their only child, with her cousin Amelia Kathryn Pond and Rory Brian Williams as her closest friends. When she was eleven her perfect world shattered when her parents divorced. It wasn't a messy divorce, Sharon and Michael simply weren't in love anymore they explained to their daughter. They still loved her but they would be better apart. Despite the friendly nature of the divorce and the weekly visits from Michael who had moved to London to be closer to work, River began to act out. She stole, skipped school, mouthed off to her teachers even got high. Rory began to distance himself from her and Amy, who always idolised her cousin and followed her example. Sharon and Michael could do nothing to stop her descent, a girl who had grown up with little discipline, any attempts to corral the girl only caused more trouble.

Things came to a head when River was in college. Her grades and behavior had made it so she could only be accepted to a small community college in London. Her party ways had only grown over the years and on the rare occasions when she came to class she would be drunk, hungover or high. The community college had just about had enough when she tried to seduce her professor into giving her a good grade. The teacher had rejected her advances and informed the principal. Within the week River had been expelled from the school. Upon returning to Leavenworth she found a more hostile environment than she was expecting. Both Sharon and Michael refused to help insisting she'd brought it on herself. Tabetha and Augustus Pond, her aunt and uncle, also refused to help, their own daughter was fixing herself up now she was away from River's influence and they refused to jeopardize it. For the first time ever River was on her own.

She got in contact with a woman named Bernice Summerfield after almost a year of living off of her boyfriend. Bernice 'Benny' had a similar personality to River except she had managed to stay sober long enough to get a degree in archeology and with Benny's help River also managed to find a passion for archeology. Despite this however River's love belonged to one thing, _money_ and her job as an archeologist didn't give her the lifestyle she wanted and she spent years trying to get it. And then when she was on a dig in late 1998 she met James Noble, a 29 year old physicist from London, on holiday with his sister. She'd just been toying with him at first, just having a little fun up until he drunkenly let slip his status as an heir to billions, after that it'd gotten serious.

She'd carefully and skillfully wrapped him around her little finger with James being none the wiser though Donna had never hidden her hatred for her, she also gone off birth control and sneakily replaced the condoms with fakes. Something she'd figured out about James was how honorable he was, she knew if she was pregnant she'd be married within a month, and by March it had payed off and on her birthday she revealed her pregnancy. After that everything went smoothly. Within two months she was married and Jennifer 'Jenny' Christina Noble was born almost a month premature on November 25, 1999. Despite everything River really did care about Jenny, it simply wasn't enough for her. She met Harold Saxon a schoolmate of James' when Jenny was seven months. Saxon was charming and charismatic and both of were in unhappy marriages, her to James, Harold to his wife Lucy, who despite being timid and lifeless had a bigger trust fund than the Prince of Wales. Their affair completed her life in River's eyes, she had billions of pounds, she was once again in contact with her parents and Amy and her career had only become more successful since her marriage, the affair added a layer of mystery and danger to her life that she loved.

It continued for a year until a little before Jenny's second birthday when James confronted her with photos of her and Harold, as it turned out Donna had seen them together and then hired a private investigator to watch them for nearly three months before showing the evidence to James. Of all the fights they'd had, (which was a lot, they didn't exactly have a fairytale marriage) that was the worst. They brought up everything they weren't happy about in the marriage from River's drinking and affair to Jenny's daycare, they argued through the night until eventually River stalked off. At first she went to Harry's, despite the fact that they weren't even friends really she expected him to at least let her stay the night. However as it turned out the affair had cost him a deal between TARDIS Inc and Toclafane Inc and he turned her out on the street. An attempt to check in at the hotel showed her bank account was denying her access and Benny had long since stopped speaking to her.

She spent the night in her car and the next day drove to her parents' (who had remarried while she was in college) only to once again be turned away in shame by her family when they heard her story. The divorce was handled through the lawyers and full custody was awarded to James, River was left with the bare minium allowed by the prenup. After that she returned to archeology and spent the next three and a half years throwing herself into her work. It payed off and she was offered a professorship in UCL in London. Of her family the only person she was in contact with was Amy who was now married to Rory with two kids, three year old Melody and seven month old Anthony and working as a children's writer. Despite Rory's obvious dislike of the idea after learning of River's transfer Amy invited River to stay while she settled into life in London.

During her two month stay with the Williams family River came to a realisation. Since the divorce River had felt empty, she knew now what the problem was, River wanted her family back. She wanted to hear Jenny call her mom and see her grow up, she wanted to watch James' hair go grey. Somewhere along the way River had fallen in love with James Noble and hadn't realised. Now she _did_ know though River was determined to get her family back. She revealed her intentions to Amy who in turn told her that James had remarried to a widow with two children and also had a daughter with said woman. River however was not one to give up without a fight, she had her eyes on the prize and now that she knew what she wanted she wasn't about to let some nobody take it from her. It was because of this that River arrived on the doorstep of 74 Arcadia Heights, the home of Dr. and Mrs. Noble on Feburary 11th, 2005 fully intent on retaking her family from the woman who had stolen her place.


	4. It's A (Mostly) Wonderful Life

**Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own Doctor Who. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year's everyone, I hope it's a good one. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited or followed this story, you guys are wonderful. BTW My characters are probably going to be OOC due to my utter inability to write them like they were done in the show and different backrounds, especially the Doctor and Jack. Donna will be softer in temperament as well.**

 ** Chapter Three**

 **It's A (Mostly) Wonderful Life**

Donna watched her two eldest children play in the backyard from where she stood at the kitchen window. Ella, her daughter with her ex-husband Lee McAvoy was holding a water gun while Josh hid behind the rose bush. She rapped on the window to get their attention, "Be careful, keep away from the flowers!" She called, she waited for a moment until she heard Ella call back an agreement before turning around. Alice was in her playpen and Jack was feeding Steven at the table. She sighed, Jack and she were both struggling a bit. Donna knew what James had done was wrong but he was still her brother and he needed her support, on the other hand Jack and Rose were practically attached at the hip.

They'd grown up together and been right beside each other through Rose losing her first husband and Jack recovering from Afghanistan. Hell Jack had even helped deliver Susan when Rose had gone into labour when their rental car broke down while they were in Tokyo. Almost a fortnight had passed since River had returned to their lives and within an hour she'd sent James and Rose's marriage straight towards the rocks and they where just avoiding a head on collision. Jack had planted himself firmly on Rose's side, Rose herself had only returned to her and James' house a week ago and was still avoiding her husband as much as possible. Donna was 99% sure that the only reason she'd gone home was for the children's sake.

Abruptly Donna made a decision. "One day," she said determinedly. Jack looked up in confusion, "One day what?" he asked her. "Just for today put aside Rose and James' siblings and be Donna and Jack, Ella, Josh, Alice and Steven's parents." She walked towards him, "Let's take the kids out to the carnival, have a picnic. Jack let's just pretend everythings okay, just for one day, please?" Jack stood up and kissed her firmly before pulling back, "Best idea I've heard in weeks." Donna grinned.

Three hours later they were sitting on a blanket in a secluded part of Victoria Park. Alice and Josh were feeding the ducks while Ella had a waterfight with her stepfather. Donna was certain that soon enough Josh and Alice would get involved as well. Donna herself was sitting against a tree with Steven resting in her arms. She hadn't felt this relaxed since that disastrous family dinner two weeks ago. The sun was shining and her children were laughing, what more could she ask for?

Earlier they'd gone to the cinema to see The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and after this they were going to the carnival, the kids were going to be worn out afterwards and Donna planned to take advantage by putting them to bed early and having some quality time with her husband. Her attention was caught by her youngest patting her cheek with his chubby hand. "Ma," he said insistently, " _Ma._ " "Yes Steven?" Donna asked warmly. "Wuv wu," he declared with a drooly smile. Donna felt tears well up and smiled back at him, "I love you to baby," she cooed in reply. A moment later she felt something wet hit the tree trunk beside her ruining the moment as her eldest's voice called out a second later. "Mom! Come help! Boys versus girls!" Ella yelled as she returned fire (or water) with her water gun. Donna looked down at her youngest with a put upon sigh, "You and Mommy are the only sane ones in the family aren't we?" Steven gave her a look as if to say ya think? Then she grinned, "Well lets show 'em what we got eh baby?" Before jumping to her feet as best she could with a seven month old baby in her arms and putting her youngest in his pushchair and joining the water fight with a war cry.

They staggered home several hours later in the spare changes of clothes that Donna kept in the boot of the car for whenever the clothes got to wet or dirty or destroyed to wear. After the park they had gone to the carnival and Jack had taken Ella (fearless adventurer that she was) up on the London Eye while Donna took the others to a café while they waited for them to finish. They had ended the day with dinner in a small Italian restaurant before returning to their home on Boeshane Avenue where the exhausted children were put to sleep immediately without even a breath of protest even from Alice who usually despised going to sleep until she had been read at least three stories about Winnie the Pooh.

Donna met Jack in the hallway after putting Steven and Alice to sleep in their joint room. Jack himself was just leaving Josh's room a soft smile on his face despite his obvious exhaustion. "He down?" Donna asked softly to avoid any of the children hearing and subsequently waking up the whole household. Jack nodded, "Yup," he said softly in response, "Out like a light, what about the others?" "Ali and Steven are fast asleep, I doubt even a hurricane would wake them up they're so exhausted. Last I saw Ella was going to the bathroom, that was a few minutes ago though." Jack nodded, "Do you want to check on her or should I?" he asked her. Donna smiled at him, Jack treated Ella and Josh as his own, he spent more time with them in a month then Lee usually did in a year. "I'll do it," she replied, "D'you mind making some tea though? I'd kill for a cuppa." Jack nodded while heading for the stairs and Donna made her way towards the door at the end of the hall, covered in stickers with Ella on it in sparkly purple bubble letters.

Their house wasn't exactly large, it had four bedrooms and used to belong to Donna's grandparents Wilfred and Eileen, Wilf had given it to Donna when she had married Lee and he had moved in with his daughter and son-in-law, Donna's parents. At the moment Alice and Steven were young enough to share a room but soon enough they would have to figure out another arrangement. Donna and Jack were debating between letting Ella playroom turn the playroom into a bedroom when she was eleven or simply adding an extension but neither of them were going to make any decisions for a while longer.

When Donna entered Ella's room she found her eldest sitting up in bed reading her favourite book the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Ella loved the Chronicles of Narnia and it was her who picked the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to watch earlier that day. Ella's room was painted lavender with stick on stars on the ceiling in the shape of Cassiopeia, Ella's favourite constellation. There was a bookshelf stuffed full of school books, reading books and photographs. There was also a matching desk with Ella's half finished homework, pencilcase and sketchpad on it. Ella adored drawing and painting and basically every type of art. The playroom and the fridge was covered in pictures of mermaids and fairies.

The young girl looked up at her mother's entrance. "Hey Mum," she said marking her place and putting the book to the side. "Hello love," Donna replied sitting on the edge of the bed and beginning to tuck the ten year old in. "Bedtime I think," she stated firmly. Ella nodded quietly and remained silent as Donna pulled up the bedcovers.

"Mum," began Ella abruptly Donna pausing to look at her. "Yes love?" "Are Uncle James and Aunt Rose getting divorced?" she asked. Donna stared at her in surprise for a moment wondering how long Ella had been brooding over the subject of the Nobles' marriage before answering. "I don't know," Donna said before continuing, "But I do know this. Even if James and Rose aren't married anymore they will still love you just as much and so will Jack and I. How long have you been wondering about that?" She asked. Ella shrugged looking down at her dark purple and navy duvet. "I heard you talking to Aunt Martha over the phone the other day," she admitted. Donna frowned, now that she thought about it Ella had been a little subdued since Wednesday. "Ella you know better then to eavesdrop on peoples' conversations," Donna scolded her mildly. Ella nodded looking ashamed, "I know Mummy, I'm sorry." Donna sighed "it's okay but don't do it again alright sweetheart," she said sternly giving Ella a tight hug before Ella lay down still looking troubled. "I love you Ella," Donna said softly as she turned off the lights wishing she had the magical ability to fix everything, hearing a quiet "Love you to Mummy," right before she shut the door.

After heading down to the living room she gratefully took a cup of tea from her husband and shook her head in response to his soft quiry of whether or not she was alright feeling tears well up in her eyes. "I just," she began shakily before cutting off and shaking her head. "Just, just hold me please?" Donna half asked, half begged. Jack nodded enveloping her in his warm embrace. "I know it's not okay," he whispered in her ear, "I know it's not. But it's _going_ to be, just you wait, everything's gonna be okay."


	5. A Clever Child

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. AN: Some people have expressed concerns that the story was abandoned and I want to promise that that will NEVER happen I can't promise regular updates but I won't abandon River's Flood. Thanks to my wonderful beta for her help.**

 **Chapter 4**

 **A Clever Child She Is**

Susan Foreman was a clever child. Young, but clever - that's what all her teachers and the adults of her family said about her. She was barely four years old when her father Jonathan had died but she still vaguely remembered her mother's tears along with a vague sense of confusion about where Daddy had gone. She remembered Uncle Jack's face being white and strained as he explained that Dad was gone and no, they couldn't visit him, not for a long time, and a simple grey jar being handed to Mum along with a George Cross and a United Kingdom flag by her great-uncle Alistair.

Now she was older she understood that the jar was an urn containing her father's ashes. She understood that for him to have been cremated instead of receiving a proper military funeral Grandpa Al would've had to pull a lot of strings. She knew now that Jon had died while saving several colleagues when one of the labs on his base went on fire and he'd gotten trapped and that's why he'd received the posthumous award. She knew that Jonathan had been more than Daddy to her and Alex. He had been a Major in the the Royal Navy who had completed three tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had been a husband, son, brother and a friend. Susan now knew that her parents had met during a riot when Rose was nineteen after Jon saved her from being trampled.

Susan also knew that before Dad's death her mother had sung and laughed and danced _all the time_ and after he died Mum hadn't done any of those things for _ages_ until Uncle Jack married Aunt Donna and Mum met James. The only painting Mum had done between Dad and James was a portrait of Uncle Jack and Aunt Donna for their wedding present.

Now though Mum was acting the same way as she had right after Dad died. They'd gone and stayed with Aunt Kate and Gordy for a week and when Susan had been getting some water for herself during their third night there she had overheard Mum crying and Aunt Kate had been telling her the same things Mum told her and Alex and Jenny and the baby when they cried. Susan didn't understand why Mum was acting like this when James was fine but she knew that it had something to do with the weird lady with all the hair that had come to dinner two weeks ago and her kissing James the way Mum did. They had since returned to the house but Mum was still upset and James kept running his hands through his hair like he did when he was frustrated and he was staying in the spare bedroom too. Susan felt as if everybody was walking on tiptoe to avoid ruining the fragile balance they had regained in the past few days since leaving Aunt Kate's house. Even baby Miranda seemed to understand that something was wrong and kept howling no matter how much Mum tried to soothe her.

Three days and one week after they left Aunt Kate's house Susan was passing her mother's bedroom when she heard sobs from inside. She hesitated for a moment before knocking and poking her head around the door. Rose was hastily wiping her eyes and forcing a smile as Susan asked "Mummy? Are you alright?" Rose nodded holding her arms out and Susan made her way over, "I'm fine Baby, just missing Daddy." From her perch beside her mother Susan could now see the photo album containing a copy of every picture of Rose and Jon that they had taken while travelling the world. "Tell me a story about him?" Susan asked huskily, Rose took a deep breath before nodding, "Of course Honey."

Rose paused for a moment to organise her thoughts before deciding to tell Susan about when she was born. She'd heard it before but it was a favourite for all of them.

"Daddy and I did a lot of travelling," she began, "And sometimes Uncle Jack would come with us. When you were born we were in Tokyo for two weeks. On our fourth day there it started to snow and it kept snowing for three days straight." Against her side Susan murmured,

"And the snow was so bad you couldn't leave the hotel." Rose nodded smiling down at her.

"Exactly. We weren't worried though because you weren't due to arrive for another three weeks and they were already doing their best to get everyone out safely. But being Little Miss Impatient _you_ decided you didn't want to wait and I went into labour early." Rose stroked her eldest's hair softly, thinking absently that Susan was the spitting image of Jon as she did so before continuing.

"So there we were, stuck in our hotel, you about to arrive and no way to get to a hospital. And then silly Uncle Jack fainted didn't he?" She asked, the eight year old nodding in agreement. "You took seventeen hours to arrive and we named you Susan meaning graceful lily in Hebrew and Patience after Daddy's first wife who died. That's why Daddy always called you his Little Tiger Lily And we were so happy you were here. We love you so much." She finished the story horsely, feeling more agony at the thought of her first husband then she'd felt since her remarriage.

"Mummy?" Susan asked tentatively. "Yes?" Rose replied, broken out of her thoughts. "Are you and James gonna get a divorce?" Rose was quiet for a minuet before quietly replying, "I don't know." Then she stood up and ushered her daughter down stairs to watch Beauty and the Beast as a distraction.

The next day Rose held a cup of tea tightly in her hands as she made her way unsteadily to her husband's office, it was affecting her children and that was completely unacceptable which meant she had to speak to James. And, wow, did she wish that was as easy as it used to be. She knocked and entered cautiously, wishing for the days when she felt as comfortable in there as she did in her art studio.

"Rose," James breathed in surprise, scrambling to his feet at the sight of her. "I, what are you doing here?" Rose took a deep breath and replied, "We need to talk, this," she waved her spare hand between them, "It's affecting our children and I won't tolerate it." James nodded solemnly and after she handed him the tea they spoke for several hours.

They spoke about how Rose returned to university to study, James being away for work so often and the ghost of Jonathan hanging over their marriage put a strain on it. They spoke of how River was trying to get in contact with him again and wanted to speak to Jenny but he had refused her. They talked about a lot of things: how James felt jealous of Jon and how Rose resented his flirting with various women, including French professor Reinette Poisson and River. They also managed to narrow the catalyst down to Miranda's birthday and Jon's anniversary which had fallen on the same month.

They eventually managed to decide one thing. They didn't want to divorce if they didn't have to. That very same hour, Rose looked up the name of the best marriage and family counsellors in London. She placed a call to Dr. Harriet Jones within an hour organising an appointment for the next day. I


End file.
